The Land of Tree and Leaves
by Triangular Prism
Summary: Tsunade was already regretting becoming Hokage from the stack of papers on her desk. At least the strange man behind her provided some distraction...


**Uh, what? Why did I post this story? I never expected to… huh… Random little plot bunny I expanded on, and put up here featuring Hetalized lands. Enjoy, if you must.**

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**The Land of Tree and Leaves**

**A Naruto/Hetalia Fanfictin by Triangular Prism**

The day after her official induction as Hokage, and Lady Tsunade was starting to regret it already. Mainly from the large and intimidating stack of papers on her brand new Hokage desk. Damn that Naruto. He never said anything about paperwork. Almost unconsciously the Legendary Sucker turned to leave the room and get the heck out of the village immediately and would have carried it through if not for the counselors and Shizune who stood in the way.

"No escaping." They all said at once, staring at her ominously, and with no way out, Tsunade had little choice but to scrap the plan regretfully.

"Lady Hokage, there is still one important matter left," the old female counselor began, her eyes darting around the room as if searching.

"And quite regretfully, we must ask you to leave Miss Shizune," the old male counselor finished, and a curious Shizune was promptly shown the door. Tsunade tried to protest at this, as the heavy door was firmly closed, but instead froze as she suddenly became aware of a new presence in the room.

Right behind her.

Her reactive instincts kicked in immediately, and with an earsplitting _HAI-YAAAAA! _Tsunade whipped her leg around to deal a devastating kick to the enemy who dared appeared in her blind spot.

"OH MY GAWWD!"

The panicked, high-pitched scream was the _last _thing Tsunade would have suspected from her would-be opponent.

She also did not expect to make full contact with said opponent, and send him/her, with a crush of wood and explosion of splinters, straight through the floor of the office and down through several subsequent levels below, screaming all the way until it cut off to an ominous silence. And the fifth Hokage of Konoha stood frozen, leg still raised, and wondering how that had been so easy.

"Oh dear…" the female councilor said quite heavily, while the male councilor put his head in his hand in embarrassment.

"…Would someone please explain what just happened here?" Tsunade deadpanned, finally easing back down to a standing position, and staring at the hole in the floor.

"…S' okay!" a voice came floating up from below, and the blond woman stiffened in shock, as from the hole crawled a battered, dazed, and slightly cross-eyed man with splinters all in his hair and clothes.

"I'm okay! Nobody saw me!" he wheezed, hauling his battered body onto proper ground, and collapsing at the feet of a thunder-struck Tsunade. "Oohh man, that's gonna bruise in the morning… Eep!"

With her patience fraying, the strange man suddenly found himself yanked into the air by the scruff of his clothes, and glared at with a pair of blazing green eyes. "Ah, crap."

"Cut the whining, and tell me now," Tsunade snarled, shaking him furiously, "Who the hell are you? Are you some kind of weakling? Why did you sneak up on me?" With each question her voice rose in volume, and the shaking more intense until the poor man could only manage a few words at a time.

"Waa-aah! Boss… It's not… what it looks like!" he was wailing, until at last it was the Councilors who stepped to his aid with frantic protests of "My lady, stop!" and, "This man is innocent, please unhand him!"

When the pleas finally came through at last, Tsunade gave the strange man one last, vicious glare— and dropped him unceremoniously on the floor. He crumpled quite easily with a low groan of pain, and a _thud. _

"Ow… You're tough, that's for sure…" the whimper floated up, but the fifth Hokage merely ignored him. Instead, she pointed at him.

"Who is this?" She demanded flatly, and when the poor man tried to speak again, she slammed a foot by his head, cutting off any other words.

"Silence, _weakling._"

The Councilors at this point intervened, and not in the way that Tsunade would expect. Instead of telling her straight off who the intruder was, and why he had so rudely taken her off guard, the pair of them instead rushed around her— and helped him up, brushing the splinters away until he waved them off with a limp hand.

"Lady Tsunade, this man is the reason we must speak with you alone!" the female Councilor said at last, her partner still vainly trying to provide assistance. Tsunade put her hands on her hips at this, with an eyebrow raised incredulously at the statement.

"And why is this weakling so important? Why the hell did he sneak up on me in the first place?" the fifth Hokage asked in disbelief, as her jade green eyes turned to take in the full appearance of the strange man.

He was currently trying to back away from the male Councilor, insisting that he was fine, and at her blatant staring her lit up with a grin. For all sake of appearances, he seemed rather… well, normal. He was relatively young, in his early twenties she guessed, and sporting a full head of bushy, nut-brown hair. His skin was fairly tanned from hours in the sun no doubt, but his smile was a bright white one that reached all the way to rich, mossy green eyes that sparkled at her with earthy flecks of color. He was wearing a dark emerald tunic and white undershirt bound with a weathered piece of rope, over a pair of brown leggings. And hanging around his neck, Tsunade at last saw the metal forehead protector of Konoha village, leaf emblem and all.

So he _wasn't _an enemy necessarily. But he was a plain, ordinary man in almost every aspect, if not for the fact that he had taken a _full on blow_ of her legendary strength, and _gotten away unscratched. _Well, besides a few bruises and scrapes from going through the floor, which alone should have broken some bones.

Who exactly _was _this man? A ninja? Tsunade opened her mouth to voice this exact question when the man instead stood, brushed the remaining few pieces of wood from his clothes, and, fixing her with a warm and gentle smile, bowed to her, one arm folded over his chest.

"It seems we got off at the wrong foot," he said, his voice filled with a tinge of embarrassment, but filled with laughter at the same time. "I'd like to introduce myself before all the explanations begin." He straightened up again to look her directly in the eye, and for a moment the fifth Hokage was struck with the sudden feeling that those rich green eyes looked far older than they possibly should appear.

"My name," the man said quite clearly, "Is Konoha no Kuni, the Land of Tree and Leaves. Some people also call me the Land of Fire since I'm so sunny all the time."

Tsunade blinked once. Then again. Then cracked her fist in an ominous manner. This time the man barely flinched, and instead, _chuckled _of all things, giving her a wink. "Or you can just call me Hideki. That's my cover name."

"What kind of _crap _was that first part then?" Tsunade burst out, royally annoyed with the whole thing at large, and the man, Konoha or Hideki or whatever his name was simply put his hands, laughing as the Councilors looked at each other and moved to take their part.

"Lady Tsunade, what Lord Konoha say is true. His name is indeed Konoha no Kuni, after our great nation," male Councilor said, and Tsunade noted the respectful title given with the name, even if it still was a load of nonsense.

"Who exactly names their kid after a _nation? _What the heck were your parents like?" the woman growled, and Konoha/Hideki, whatever, actually dropped his smile for a second to look thoughtful— and again, Tsunade could not help but think that the young man was not acting his age.

"Actually… I don't know. I never knew my parents. Don't think I actually have any," he said slowly. "We all just kind of stuck together the first few decades. My siblings and I, I mean, until the Daimyos got started and separated us all." For a moment, he actually looked sad.

"Wait, wait… a few _decades_?" Tsunade almost stumbled over the words. What the heck was he talking about? The kid wasn't a day over twenty-one… was he? "Just how _old _are you?"

"Oh, well… I'd say a thousand or so, give or take a few centuries. I lost track. Suna would know, she was always good at remembering stuff like that..."

The fifth Hokage stared. This kid, this youngster standing in front of her, was claiming to be over a thousand years old? The confusion must have shown on her face— Konoha smiled, sheepishly scratching his head.

"Lady Fifth, when do you think the Land of Fire first originated?" he asked, spreading his arms wide, and a little surprised by the history question, Tsunade thought about it, and when the answer came, it began to dawn on her what he was trying to say.

"Lord Konoha is the most important secret of Konohagakure, and throughout the entire land as well, Lady Tsunade." The male Councilor spoke. "He has existed since this land came into being, a thousands years ago…"

"Because, Lady Fifth, Lord Konoha _is _the Land itself."

The proclamation was met with silence. Tsunade could only gape, as the man known as Konoha beamed at her with his sunny smile.

"I know, right? Sounds weird!" he said, jumping up to perch on the large official desk of the Hokage.

"But… is that… even possible?" she whispered, and the Councilors gave her a solemn nod.

"You see, I'm kinda a big secret because of that. That's why only the Hokage and the Daimyo ever meet me!" Konoha laughed, "I only answer to you guys, so you're both my Bosses. But I like hanging out in Konohagakure. It's more interesting."

"But…" Tsunade swallowed. It couldn't be the truth… Konoha… this man… he was only… "You don't feel any different! You couldn't dodge my kick! And I don't feel any sort of power from you at all, I don't understand…" She trailed off. Konoha was quiet, gazing at her.

"Hm. Yeah, I don't look like a millennia old, huh? We age differently, but… I guess I'll show you a little of my power."

Konoha closed his eyes, leaning back against the deck, as a silence filled the room.

Then she felt it.

Tsunade froze, as a pressure fell over her like a sudden burst of rain. It filled the room, the powerful essence of a Chakra so immense it paralyzed her. She couldn't move. She couldn't breath... _there was so much of it…_

And then it all ebbed away, and she was left with… _a feeling. _The feeling of warm sunshine caressing her skin, the heady heat of summer. A whisper of coolness, like the shade of a deep forest, calm and tranquil. Wind, rustling through leaves, and then…

Nothing.

Tsunade released a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. She was trembling. A bead of cold sweat trickled down her face as she looked up into the deep green gaze of her Nation, who perched right in front of her, with a smile like the warmth of sunshine.

"I have to mask my Chakra, or everyone would know where I was," he said, gently. "Feels strange, doesn't it? Considering I never learned the arts until the Sage of Six Paths taught me." He laughed again. Was he always laughing?

"So… you really are… Konoha?" she could barely ask, and before her, Konoha no Kuni nodded, slipping from the desk to take her hand.

"Yup! That's me!" he beamed, his happy voice suddenly loud in the small room. "It's nice to meet you, Lady Fifth! I like you. And you've got a great kick, by the way."

With that said, Konoha looked nervously around to the splintered hole in the floor.

"Uh… I can fix that. I think. I can try…" he stammered, and for the moment the fifth Hokage, Tsunade, briefly forgot her awe and felt the vein rise in her forehead as she roared, "Of _course _you'd better fix that! What the hell kind of ninja are you? If you're so tough why didn't you dodge? Get to work right now, you worthless—" Konoha frantically backed away as Tsunade advanced, babbling out excuses and pitiful attempts to reinstate peace as his Boss proceeded to chase him around the room, much to the vexation of the two old Councilors, while through several stories below a crowd of curious ninja were gathering to see if there indeed was a large hole in the floor, above and below.

~End~

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**I'm not really satisfied with this. I'll leave it up for now, but I might take it down after a while. BTW, some Naruto explanations… I've never watched the anime and only strictly read the books, so I'm actually following book cannon. In volume two Kakashi explains the lands of the shinobi world with a map, and Konoha was shown to be situated in 'The Land of Tree and Leaves.' I liked it better than just 'The Land of Fire' and it's the same with the rest of the lands. Anyway, thanks for reading. I'll get proper Hetalia fics up sooner or later…**

**I also for the life of me don't know what the names of those two old people who show up sometimes. Gah, long auther note is long. **


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